Item number: A3522／A3643

Year: circa AD 766-900

Material: Bronze

Size: 18.0 x 16.8 x 0.7 mm (A3522)／14.5 x 13.5 x 1.2 mm (A3643)

Weight: 1.5 g (A3522)／1.35 g (A3643)

Manufactured by: Suyab, Taraz Mint (A3522)／Tashkent, Chach (A3643)

Provenance: Stephen Album Rare Coins 2025

These coins were likely issued by some of the remaining tribes following the collapse of the Türgesh Khaganate, possibly by groups such as the Tukhuses or the Ten Arrows tribal confederation.

Their designs imitate those of the Sogdian coins of the Western Regions—known in the Chinese heartland as those of the “Nine Surnames of Zhaowu.” The Sogdian prototypes themselves were modelled after the Tang dynasty Kaiyuan Tongbao, resembling the traditional Chinese cash coin with a round shape and a central square hole. In these cases, however, the coins feature circular perforations instead of square ones. Around each circular hole lie square frames, which are themselves enclosed within outer circular borders. These combined forms may be understood as stylised transformations of the classical Türgesh symbol “𐱃” (ät), meaning “horse” in Old Turkic, which also functioned as the tamga (tribal emblem, Old Turkic: 𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀 tamga) of the Türgesh people.

In the upper right fields of the obverses appear the Sogdian words “𐼱𐼲𐼷” (βγu), meaning “heaven” or “divine”; in the lower right fields, “𐼾𐼻𐼷” (pny), meaning “coin”; and along the left sides, “𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻” (γ’γ’n), meaning “khagan” or “ruler.” Together, the legends may be read as “heavenly khagan coins.”

The reverse designs correspond closely to those of the obverses: circular perforations surrounded by square frames and outer circular borders, forming patterns reminiscent of the “𐱃” symbol. These motifs may also be compared to the “four radiating lines” (si chu wen) pattern found on round Chinese coins with square holes struck between the 2nd and 6th centuries AD, although in most cases the extensions appeared only on one side. Around the borders run Sogdian inscriptions whose precise meanings remain uncertain; some letters can be tentatively identified as “𐼻𐼻𐼱” (nnb), the significance of which is unclear, though they may represent the marks of issuers, mint officials, or die engravers.

The Turgesh were one of the Duolu divisions of the Western Turkic tribes. According to Tang histories, they were originally a small group on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul, possibly descendants of the Xiongnu. The various steppe tribes scattered in the region were collectively known as the Tiele. In the fifth century AD, the Northern Wei and the Rouran engaged in continual conflict. The Tiele, or Gaoche, who had been subordinate to the Rouran, rebelled against their domination and migrated westward, driven by Rouran expansion into Central Asia. In the late sixth century, the Western Turks established supremacy in the region, and the Turgesh submitted to their authority. In AD 657, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong, the Tang court suppressed the rebellion of the Western Turks and set up protectorates in the Western Regions, followed by a series of administrative units in the Chach (Ten Arrows) region to divide and weaken the Turks.

When Western Turkic power declined, the Turgesh chieftain Wuzhile seized Suyab, one of the Tang’s Four Garrisons of Anxi, and established his orda there, founding the First Turgesh Khaganate. The Tang court, unable to resist, conferred on him the title of commandery prince. In AD 711, his son Suoge was killed in battle against the restored Eastern Turkic Khaganate, leading to the collapse of the First Khaganate. In AD 716, with the death of the Eastern Turkic khagan Qapaghan, the steppe tribes fell into disarray, and the Eastern Turks turned to diplomacy with Tang China, their power waning. To the west, the Chumnishi tribe under Turgesh control, later known as the “Black Tribe,” rose under their leader Suluk, who proclaimed himself Turgesh Khagan and established the Second Turgesh Khaganate.

Suluk manoeuvred between the Eastern Turks, the Tibetans, and the Tang, maintaining a delicate balance. He married noblewomen from both the Eastern Turks and Tibet, raising them to the rank of khatun. In AD 717, the Tang court recognised him with the title “Loyal and Obedient Khagan.” In AD 722, a daughter of the sinicised Western Turkic Ashina clan was also granted in marriage to Suluk as the Princess of Jiaohe, strengthening ties with the Turgesh. Suluk maintained close relations with the Tang, acting as their proxy in Central Asia and repeatedly confronting the Umayyad Caliphate and the governor of Khurasan. In AD 738, suffering from paralysis, Suluk was assassinated by the leader of the Yellow Tribe, Baga Tarkhan, who succeeded him as khagan.

After Suluk’s death, the Black and Yellow tribes fell into incessant conflict, shifting between rebellion and submission, while the Tang alternately supported one faction or the other. In AD 750, the Tang general Gao Xianzhi feigned peace with the king of Stone City, only to launch a sudden attack, capturing the king of Stone City, the Yellow Turgesh khagan, a Tibetan chieftain, and the ruler of the Jie Shi kingdom. The king of Stone City was taken to Chang’an and executed, provoking the resentment of the Nine Surnames of Zhaowu. His son allied with the Abbasids (the “Black-robed Arabs”) and brought their armies into Transoxiana. In AD 751, Gao Xianzhi attempted a pre-emptive strike at Talas but was decisively defeated. In AD 755, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, severing the Silk Road and crippling Tang frontiers, thus extinguishing Tang influence in Central Asia and opening the way for the rise of the Karluk Khaganate. In AD 766, the Karluks conquered most of the Semirechye (then known as the Ten Arrows), reducing both the Yellow and Black Turgesh tribes to vassalage. It is possible that descendants of the Black Turgesh survived in the fertile Chuy Valley around Suyab, later known as the Turkhun Ten Arrows (Turkhuses, also transliterated Toghus).

Both the First and Second Turgesh Khaganates had Suyab as their political centre. Suyab was one of the Tang’s Four Garrisons of Anxi, alongside Kucha, Kashgar, and Khotan. After the Tang withdrawal from the Western Regions, it fell into obscurity, its precise location long uncertain. Xuanzang’s Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and Du Huan’s Jingxingji both describe Suyab as lying east of the “Hot Sea” (modern Lake Issyk-Kul) and west of Talas. In AD 1961, the British scholar Gerard Clauson argued in his article Ak Beshim – Suyab that the Ak-Beshim site should be identified as Suyab. In the same year, the French orientalist Paul Pelliot reached a similar conclusion in his article Ak-Beshim et ses sanctuaires. In AD 1979, Zhang Guangda, drawing on sources such as the New Book of Tang and Ibn Khordadbeh’s Book of Roads and Kingdoms, together with archaeological evidence, confirmed the identification of Ak-Beshim with Suyab. In AD 1982, archaeologists at the site discovered a Chinese stele fragment inscribed with the characters “Suyab.”

Turgesh coinage arose from their collaboration with the Sogdian city-states of Transoxiana. Since the Northern Dynasties, Sogdian merchants had entered China, transporting silk westward as far as Byzantium. At that time, however, the region was under the dominance of the Sasanian Empire (Eran-shahr), and Sogdian trade remained under Persian control. With the rise of the Western Turks, Emperor Justin II of Byzantium sought to ally with them in order to break the Persian monopoly, but was rebuffed by Khusrow I. A northern route along the Silk Road was then opened to bypass Persia and establish direct links with Byzantium. Commerce flourished along this route, with many Sogdian settlements. The Turgesh Khaganate, ruling these territories, had long ceased to be merely a nomadic polity. Their issuance of coinage facilitated exchange and profit, while also asserting their political authority over the region.

物件編號: A3522／A3643

年代: 約公元 766-900 年

材料: 青銅

尺寸: 18.0 x 16.8 x 0.7 mm (A3522)／14.5 x 13.5 x 1.2 mm (A3643)

重量: 1.5 g (A3522)／1.35 g (A3643)

製造地: 碎葉城，塔拉茲 (A3522)／塔什干，赭時 (A3643)

來源: 史蒂芬稀有錢幣專輯 2025

這是一些可能由突騎施汗國滅亡後的殘部，如突昏十箭部落等，所鑄行之天可汗錢。

形制模仿西域粟特人(Sogdian ，中原地區稱「昭武九姓」之錢幣，而粟特錢幣又是模仿大唐「開元通寶」，形似漢文化圈傳統的方孔圓錢，惟穿孔為圓穿。錢面圓穿外另有方廓，方廓外另有圓廓，或許也可將圓廓加方廓理解為突騎施錢中，經典「𐱃」(ät)符號的變形，其於古突厥文中意為馬，同時也是突騎施部族的塔木加(古突厥語：𐱃𐰢𐰍𐰀, tamga)，即族徽。錢面右上角幣文為粟特文「𐼱𐼲𐼷」(βγу)，即「天」或「神聖」，右下角為「𐼾𐼻𐼷」(pny)，即「錢」。左側應為「𐼲𐼰𐼲𐼰𐼻」(γ’γ’n)，即「可汗」或「汗王」。錢文合意為「天可汗錢」。

錢幕設計與錢面類似，圓穿外另有方廓，方廓外另有圓廓，合為似「𐱃」的符號，或許也可以類比為曾於二世紀至六世紀漢文化圈王朝所鑄行的背四出紋方孔圓錢——儘管多僅在一側有出紋。環列以粟特文，具體意義待考。有些大致可辨識為「𐼻𐼻𐼱」(nnb)，涵義不明，可能為鑄主、鑄造工匠或官員的標記。

突騎施為西突厥諸咄陸部之一，唐史載為部落聯盟的一員，早期為吐如紇湖畔的一小部落，可能為匈奴後裔。散居該地區的漠北各部落共名為鐵勒諸部。公元5世紀，北魏與柔然相互征伐，當時臣服柔然的鐵勒諸部(或稱高車)，不願再受驅使，率眾西遷，隨著柔然的擴張退往西域。公元6世紀晚期，西突厥入主西域，突騎施臣服突厥。唐高宗顯慶二年(公元657年)，唐朝平西突厥叛，始於西域設都督府，後又於河中(亦稱十箭)地區設羈縻府州，眾建諸部以解體突厥。西突厥勢弱後，突騎施部酋長烏質勒陷安西四鎮之碎葉，設為牙帳，建突騎施第一汗國，唐廷無可奈何，封為郡王。唐睿宗景雲二年(公元711年)，烏質勒子娑葛與復興東突厥的後突厥汗國交戰，身死國滅。唐玄宗開元四年(公元716年)，東突厥可汗默啜逝世，諸部離散，東突厥轉與唐謀和，其勢轉衰。東突厥以西，突騎施部統屬之車鼻施部，後稱黑姓，其酋長蘇祿自號突騎施可汗，是為突騎施第二汗國。蘇祿周旋於東突厥、吐蕃以及大唐之間，左右逢源。蘇祿先後娶東突厥、吐蕃之貴女為可敦。開元五年(公元717年)，大唐冊蘇祿為忠順可汗。開元十年(公元722年)亦冊西突厥漢化部族，阿史那氏之女為交河公主，和親突騎施。蘇祿與大唐關係密切，為大唐遙控西域，多次抵禦伍麥亞王朝，與呼羅珊總督交戰。公元738年，患癱病之蘇祿被突騎施黃姓部落首領莫賀達干襲殺，莫賀達干繼任為突騎施可汗。

蘇祿死後，黑姓與黃姓部落相互征伐，內戰不斷，叛服無常，唐廷也反覆扶持黑姓或黃姓可汗。天寶九年(公元750年)，高仙芝與石國偽和而偷襲，擒得石國王、黃姓突騎施可汗、吐蕃酋長、揭師王。石國王並獻俘長安處斬，引發昭武九姓不滿。石國王子聯絡黑衣大食(即阿拔斯王朝)，引兵入河中。天寶十年(公元751年)，高仙芝知此，決定先發制人，進兵怛羅斯，大敗而回。天寶十四年(公元755年)，安史之亂爆發，絲路隔斷，邊防崩潰，唐帝國徹底喪失對西域的影響力，葛邏祿汗國勢力漸起。公元766年，葛邏祿汗國征服七河地區(唐時稱「十箭」)大部，黃姓、黑姓突騎施皆為役屬。可能為黑姓的突騎施後人，以富饒的楚河河谷碎葉城一代為活動範圍，後亦稱為突昏十箭部落(Turkhuses，亦譯托古斯)。

突騎施第一、第二汗國皆以碎葉城為政治中心，碎葉是唐朝於西域所設的重鎮之一，與龜茲、疏勒、于闐並稱「安西四鎮」，於唐末撤離四鎮後沒落，長期位置不明。玄奘《大唐西域記》，杜環《經行記》，指出碎葉城東臨熱海（今伊塞克湖），西接塔拉斯。公元1961年，英國學者傑拉德．克勞森在其文章《阿克．貝希姆——碎葉城》(Ak Beshim-Suyab)指出阿克．貝希姆遺址即碎葉城。同年，法國東方學者韓百詩在文章《阿克．貝希姆及其寺院》(Ak-Besim et ses sanctuaires)亦作出相似的結論。公元1979年，張廣達結合文獻資料，如《新唐書》及由穆斯林地理學家伊本．胡爾達茲比赫所撰之《道里邦國志》以及考古發現，論證碎葉城應位於現今的阿克．貝希姆遺址。公元1982年，考古學家於該遺址發現一塊刻有漢文的殘碑，其中包括「碎葉」。

突騎施的鑄幣，來源於與河中粟特諸城邦的合作。中國北朝時期，粟特人開始進入中國經商，以販運絲綢一路至東羅馬為主。但當時河中地區為波斯薩珊王朝(或稱埃蘭沙赫爾帝國)之勢力範圍，需仰鼻息。後西突厥崛起，東羅馬皇帝查士丁二士聯絡西突厥，倚突厥兵威嘗試打破波斯壟斷的商道，遭波斯王霍斯勞一世拒絕，於是另於絲路中段開闢北道，直接連絡羅馬。絲路沿途貿易興盛，粟特聚居點眾多，統治此處的突騎施汗國，已難稱為單純的遊牧帝國，是故鑄行貨幣以便民、取利，也強調了突騎施汗國對當地的統治。